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Lesson 7 TITLE: SYMBOLS OF LANGUAGE

AUTHOR: Paul C. Chase, Blackfoot High School; Blackfoot, Idaho

GRADE LEVEL: Appropriate for Grades 6 - 11

OBJECTIVE(s): Students will be able to: 1) Identify the basic symbols of English language 2)  Understand that all written languages are sets of    symbols 3) Create his or her own set of symbols and message

OVERVIEW: The English language is often the only language with which most students are familiar. This lesson gives the teacher the opportunity, in a fun and creative way, to show students how written languages are established. Some ancient languages are still not translated simply because we do not know what the symbols of the language meant to the people who used them.

INTRODUCTION: Create a hieroglyphic-style message of your own and put it on the board before students come into class. Locate pictures, if possible, of other languages. Some interesting examples are Arabic, Japanese, and Czechoslovakian languages. After the students have viewed the language symbols for a time, show them the message you have written and ask them to interpret the message.

MATERIALS: Teacher: chalk and board, pictures of other written languages Student: pencil, paper

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: Have each student take paper and pencil and create a message of their own. Make sure to give enough time to complete the exercise. When they are finished, select or ask for volunteers who will share with the class the symbols and message they have written.

Discuss the point that symbols have meaning, as a language, only when a society as a whole agrees to recognize and use the same set of symbols.

CLOSURE: Summarize the main points of the lesson by reviewing:

1) Every society creates communication     2)  Written language is a form of communication 3) Written language is a set of symbols     4)  Each society agrees upon its common symbols

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: This lesson was created with social studies in mind, i.e., world history, human geography. However, it may easily be adapted toward English, literature or elementary language arts lessons.